Too much is not enough for hardcore “Game of Thrones” fans.
The paperback versions of the five books in the series by George R.R. Martin run 5,216 pages. And the last two volumes are expected to be about 1,500 pages each. Which probably explains why the next book has been so long in the making. Book five took six years. Book six is due sometime in 2016.
The HBO series adapted from the books has its own fan base and out of necessity condenses the story and rearranges the chronology of events. The fifth season premiere, Sunday, is based on the books four and five.
I am a big fan of the show, but never read the books.
To keep the show’s sprawling seven kingdoms from spinning out of (my) control, I keep track of the story through its characters. Below find a, mostly, spoiler free look at season five.
—Cersei Lannister has her plate full. She is busy: avenging the murder of her father by her brother Tyrion, the Imp (“That little monster is out there drawing breath”); diluting the influence a new bride has on the just crowned king, her son; asserting control over on the ‘small council’ that runs the kingdom, as its de facto queen; sending her brother, and lover, Jamie, to retrieve their kidnapped daughter; and using a religious cult to create fear and chaos.
—After freeing the slaves, Danerys Targaryen faces a violent rebellion led by the former slave owners and dissent among her counselors on how to handle it. And she continues to be able to control her dragons, which have been banished to the dungeon. “A dragon queen with no dragons,” says one character, “is no queen.”
—Having been smuggled out of the kingdom after his act of patricide Tyrion Lannister finds himself with a bounty on his head. Preferring to drink himself to death, he is convinced to travel to meet with Danerys Targaryen in attempt to form an alliance and reclaim the Iron Throne from his sister Cersei.
—Sansa Stark, after escaping marriage to Cersei’s mad son Joffrey who is murdered at their wedding, is spirited away by the smooth and cunning Petyr Baelish – aka Littlefinger – whom she comes to trust but whose real motives are hidden. Watching over her, from a distance, is the warrior Brienne who vowed to Sansa’s late mother that she would protect her.
—Arya Stark, Sansa’s sister, undergoes something of a transformation on the island of Braavos, home of the Faceless Men, an organization of shape shifting assassins.
—Jon Snow, the bastard son of Ned Stark, continues to train with members of the Night Watch to protect the kingdoms beyond the Wall from the White Walkers and their army of the dead, and the Free Folk, or Wildings who choose to live outside the Wall. And he is being lobbied to leave the Watch and join the army of Stannis Baratheon who believes himself the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.
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